


i die every night (with you)

by taebby



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Coming of Age, Fluff, Humor, Lowercase, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Texting, Underage Drinking, aight here we go, eventually jdshkjdsh, just cause, the last five characters are mostly just mentioned, theyre all gays because i said so, theyre in la, yeet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-12-06 19:11:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taebby/pseuds/taebby
Summary: “HEY, CHENLE!” jaemin’s booming voice cut through the cafeteria, and chenle’s surprised gaze landed on their table. “dude,” renjun hissed. jaemin ignored him and made a ‘come hither’ gesture with his hand towards chenle, and the latter hesitantly walked over.jisung reached over and smacked jaemin in the arm as chenle approached. “dude, didn’t i just say that he could be shy, or whatever? you’re gonna scare him away.”-chenle is new in town, renjun needs a break, donghyuck wants his gucci slides and jisung's got a big fat crush.





	1. it's "us" now

**Author's Note:**

> title from my my my! - troye sivan
> 
> ok i wrote this on a whim after getting a burst of sudden inpiration and decided to publish this!! this work is rated T because of language but just as a warning: ppl will be smoking weed and drinking throughout this story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i’m gonna be up for days after drinking this much sprite…” donghyuck said, the others nodding in agreement, while renjun just raised an eyebrow.
> 
>  
> 
> “then stop drinking it, you fat bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from day6's hi (hello)!
> 
> warnings: drug use (weed), cursing

when the time of new year’s came around a few months ago, jisung had high hopes. a fresh start. that’s what he was hoping for. hanging out with his friends, getting good grades, getting enough sleep… he was finally going to do it in 2019, he was sure of it.

 

apparently, you can only achieve two of those goals at the same time. so, you gotta pick and choose.

 

jisung didn’t feel like he was achieving much of anything right now, eating lunch, sitting with his friends and trying not to fall asleep. let’s just say that those first two goals were his priority.

 

he sat up striahgt when he felt a skittle fly against his face. he looked up, and the one who threw the candy at him turned out to be donghyuck, staring at his tired form with judging eyes.

 

“did you hear about the new kid?” donghyuck asked, quirking his eyebrow. jisung could barely concentrate on what the other was saying over the loud noise of the cafeteria, and before he could answer someone else at the table was speaking already.

 

next to jisung, lia leaned over (resulting in some of her hair landing in her food) and faced donghyuck from her and of the table. “chenle zhong, you mean?” jisung could see renjun grimacing at her pronunciation from where he was sitting. “what about him?”

 

as jeno plucked a hair strand out of lia’s sandwich (“thanks.” “no problem.”), donghyuck answered. “nothing, i just wanted to know more about him. he seems nice, but also kind of… mysterious. like, why transfer to a different school in the middle of the year?” at this, jisung thought it would be a good time to finally speak up.

 

“we’re science partners, actually. he’s pretty cool, talks a lot,” he shrugged, sipping on his chocolate milk afterwards. everyone at the table had a face of intrigue. honestly, jisung thought chenle was pretty cute (his smile _did something_ to his heart), but he wasn’t about to expose himself to his friends.

 

jaemin’s head popped out from behind jeno, who was sitting besides lia, and swung an arm around the taller male, leaning over to catch jisung’s eye. “cool enough to be in _the squad_?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that jisung really wanted to forget. renjun seemed to agree, gagging at the look on his face. the rest of the table ‘ooh’ed at the possibilities.

 

 _the squad._ renjun, sanha, jeno, donghyuck, yeji, lia, jaemin, kyla, and jisung. the squad was a fragile and honorable title. at least it was to the people who were in it. some were closer to each other than others, but they had all grown close friendships and knew they could talk to one another if needed (even if renjun always insisted that everyone in the group was ‘a crackhead, through and through’). right now, at the start of lunch, half of the group was missing, but the remaining members were apparently still having the time of their lives.

 

jisung shrugged once again. “maybe. i don’t know if he’s the social type, though.”

 

donghyuck nodded with understanding. “you should talk to him more. maybe he could really join our _shenanigans_ one day.” he looked around at the others at the table. “y’know, like last year?”

 

most of them nodded in agreement. “this year has been admittedly dry so far. can someone stir up some drama for laughs?” renjun asked, only half joking. “this is probably because mark and lucas are gone. their dumbasses made for a lot of entertainment.”

 

lia nodded at the sentiment. “ugh, you’re right. i miss yeri. it’s no fun being the only girl,” she whined.

 

renjun rolled his eyes. “can you chill? kyla and yeji are still here, they just have second lunch.”

 

lia looked around the caf, searching for someone. “speaking of; does this chenle guy have second lunch as well? where is h—”“there!” jaemin’s voice cut through. jisung looked towards where he was pointing. there chenle was, standing with his food on a platter, looking where to sit.

 

“ _HEY, CHENLE!_ ” jaemin’s booming voice cut through the cafeteria, and chenle’s surprised gaze landed on their table. “ _dude_ ,” renjun hissed. jaemin ignored him and made a ‘come hither’ gesture with his hand towards chenle, and the latter hesitantly walked over.

 

jisung reached over and smacked jaemin in the arm as chenle approached. “dude, didn’t i just say that he could be shy, or whatever? you’re gonna scare him away.”

 

jeno nodded in agreement and looked around at the table. “let’s all just chill, alright?” which was code for _don’t be the fucking headasses you usually are._

 

in the meantime, chenle had reached the table. “um,” he said, looking over at jaemin. “what’s up?”

 

jaemin grinned at him. “come sit with us!” chenle’s eyebrows raised in surprise. lia smiled encouragingly and patted the empty seat next to her. he sat down slowly and put his platter on the table, brows furrowed.

 

“i don’t mean to be rude, but…” chenle said after a few minutes of them eating in silence, voice slightly accented. “why exactly did you want me to sit here?”

 

“we were curious about you and you looked kinda lost,” jaemin answered. he leaned forward and winked. “i know how scary it can be to go to a new school.” chenle blushed slightly (what was that feeling in jisung’s chest?) and nodded in understanding.

 

lia nodded in agreement before lowering her voice and adding her own thoughts to the conversation. “we also wanted to protect you from stray white people in the caf’. those bitches can be annoying as _fuck_ sometimes.”

 

thankfully, chenle just laughed instead of getting offended. “well, thanks. that was actually something i was worried about. people at my last school were _not nice_ , let’s just say that,” he grimaced.

 

jisung admired the student for not being as awkward as he thought the smaller was going to be. it was something he’d picked up on during science class as well. if _he_ was in this situation he knew he’d be stuttering like a madman right now.

 

“well, don’t worry. you’ve got us now,” jeno smiled. looks like those plans for the squad were going to be coming true after all.

 

chenle smiled in relief before getting a shy look on his face. “sorry, but what are you guys’ names?” he asked. renjun facepalmed when he realized no one had introduced themselves, but after a quick round of introductions, courtesy of jeno, the deed was done. jisung was surprised when chenle faced him.

 

“i actually know jisung already! we’re science partners,” chenle smiled at him. jisung nodded and tried his best to smile back without making it awkward. “thanks for inviting me to the table,” he said to the others. jaemin seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to lia, donghyuck and jisung.

 

“hey, jeno, renjun, and i were thinking about going somewhere after school for renjun’s birthday. you guys coming with?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

 

chenle’s eyes widened and he turned to renjun, shocked. “it’s your birthday?”

 

renjun chuckled softly. “no. i turned eighteen last saturday, though.” chenle nodded in understanding and wished him a happy birthday. there had been a small get-together that day with members of _the squad_ , but not everyone was able to come. that was probably the reason why jaemin had the entire ‘after school’ idea. while this was all happening, lia checked something on her phone and sighed in disappointment.

 

“sorry guys, i made plans with others today. you can count yeji out too,” she said. yeji and lia were an example of people who were closer to each other than with others, always doing stuff together.

 

jaemin nodded in understanding. “jisung?” he asked. the younger hesitated before answering, trying to remember if he was busy.

 

“i think i’m free. i don’t know if the others are, though. should i drop a text in the group chat? i’m pretty sure kyla and sanha have a class together right now,” he said, already getting his phone out.

 

jeno nodded. “good idea.”

 

 _hey, we’re gonna hang out after school, u coming?? @sanha @kyla_ he typed before sending it to the ‘dick cyst’ group chat. don’t ask.

 

“i’m definitely in. can we go to mcdonalds?” donghyuck asked renjun, the latter rolling his eyes, but nodding anyway.

 

lia took a bite of her sandwich before speaking. “what were you guys planning on doing anyway?”

 

“well, i guess we’re going to fuckin’... mcdonalds, again,” jeno said. “all we do there is go in the playground and be messy, but i guess it’s still fun. it’s not like it’s your actual birthday,” he said, addressing renjun.

 

jisung felt heard his phone vibrate twice on the table, checked his notifications, and sighed. “kyla and sanha aren’t coming. they have homework.” nearly the entire table groaned at this. donghyuck leaned his elbows on the table and rested his head on his palms.

 

“it’s no fun if it’s just the five of us,” he said (read: whined). jaemin nodded in agreement before perking up, seemingly getting another idea.

 

“hey, chenle,” he said, while chenle’s eyebrows went up in response to being spoken to again. “you should come with!” jaemin grinned. chenle looked positively surprised, but then got a look on his face that meant he was going to decline. jaemin beat him to it. “come on, we could show you around or something? if you’re not busy, of course.”

 

chenle hesitated before nodding slowly. “i mean, i don’t really have any homework yet. i guess i could come along?” jaemin whooped dramatically, making chenle duck his head down shyly. jisung found it cuter than he would like to admit. donghyuck spoke up next.

 

“just meet us out front and we’ll wait for you.” “alright!”

 

* * *

 

“ _fuck,_ we forgot renjun!”

 

the group was nearly at the entrance of the mcdonald's when donghyuck’s panicked voice rung out. jaemin and jeno looked at each other in shock and began running back to the parking lot with donghyuck, while jisung and chenle stayed a little further back, also starting to walk in their direction.

 

chenle was mostly confused. he turned to jisung. “what does he mean they ‘forgot renjun’, wasn’t he with us when we left school?” he asked, both of them arriving to jeno’s car as the other three unlocked the trunk.

 

“no, he meant ‘forgot’ as in—” jisung said, before gesturing to the others. donghyuck and jeno wrestled open the trunk and renjun fell out, panting. chenle’s eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. it had been renjun’s idea to get in there in the first place, since there wasn’t enough room in the car for six people (“just put me in the trunk, it was inevitable that i would end up in one someday.”), but he definitely looked like he was regretting the decision now.

 

“you guys took your sweet fucking time getting me out!” he shouted, getting up from the ground. jeno and jaemin moral, but donghyuck was straight up laughing at the shorter boy. renjun scowled at him. “you owe me a mcflurry, bitch. and i need a cigarette.”

 

* * *

 

a slightly awkward silence came over the table while renjun happily munched on his mcflurry. jisung could feel chenle tense up a little next to him and tried to think of something to say. donghyuck beat him to it.

 

“i’m gonna be up for days after drinking this much sprite…” he said, the others nodding in agreement, while renjun just raised an eyebrow.

 

“then stop drinking it, you fat bitch.”

 

jeno choked on his drink as the rest of the table started laughing. _“HEY!”_ donghyuck shouted. jisung was chuckling and could hear even chenle barking out a surprised laugh. he caught the latter’s eye and smiled at him. while the rest of the table started up a normal conversation again, chenle leaned over and spoke lowly, so the rest couldn’t hear him. “are those kind of jokes… normal? for this group?”

 

jisung nodded. “yeah, don’t worry. i mean, if i were you i would wait until making them,” he said, and chenle nodded in agreement. “but, renjun is the only one who really gets away with it anyway. we’re all lowkey, like, scared of him.”

 

chenle’s eyes widened as he nodded again and both of them turned to the others. apparently, jaemin had resorted to stealing donghyuck’s burger, and they were chasing each other like cat and mouse. luckily the mcdonalds was relatively empty aside from the six of them, or they would’ve been kicked out already.

 

“jaemin, put that down! i paid for it,” donghyuck whined, chasing jaemin around the mcdonalds while the latter had a huge grin on his face.

 

“you want it?” “ _yes_ , jaemin!” “go get it.”

 

cackling, jaemin ran into the kids’ playground with the burger. leaving a flabbergasted donghyuck behind. “for real?!”

 

the latter turned to the rest of the group as they all tried to hold in their laughter. “did y’all just see that? the audacity of that little…” he trailed off, clenching his fists. before he had the chance to do anything, jaemin came out of the playground looking like he had just ran a marathon, now burger-less. “where is it?”

 

“why don’t you look for it?” jaemin smirked. donghyuck sighed before rolling up his sleeves.

 

“you know what? fine. y’all coming with?” he asked to the people sitting at the table. jeno stood up and renjun sighed before following. everyone except for jisung and chenle entered the playground, with a giggling jaemin going in last.

 

“...so,” jisung said, trying to fill the silence. “where are you from?”

 

chenle smiled at him, and suddenly jisung didn’t feel awkward anymore. “well, i moved to the us from china about three years ago, and i’ve been moving around the country ever since,” he paused, smile dimming a bit. “usually i don’t really make new friends when i move somewhere, but i really had a good time today. so, thanks.”

 

jisung suddenly can’t function because of the way chenle is looking at him. “i-i, yeah, i mean, no problem, thanks,” he stutters. chenle raises an eyebrow and chuckles. jisung hopes he can’t see the way his ears turn red. “i’m glad you feel that way,” he finally managed to say.

 

“hey, um, do you have snapchat?” he asked, after a few moments of silence. jisung hoped he was being slick.

 

“oh, yeah, actually, here—” chenle was interrupted when they heard a muffled shout of _“is there anywhere in this damn playground i can smoke a damn cigarette?!”_ and they both chuckled. renjun was very passionate in times of need.

 

“...anyway,” chenle giggled. “just type your name and add yourself to my friend list,” he smiled as he handed over his phone. his phone case was baby blue and had a bunch of stickers on it. _cute_. jisung kept hearing various bangs and noises in the playground as he added himself and when he was done, he looked at chenle again.

 

“...do you wanna go in as well?” jisung asked, gesturing towards the entrance of the playground. chenle smiled before nodding and in they went.

 

“hey, what are you guys-” “jisung, thank _god_ , they left me behind and i can’t find them,” renjun said. “c’mon you two, we’re gonna find their dumbasses before they suffocate somewhere.”

 

jisung took out his phone and shined a flashlight through the tunnels. renjun went in the front and jisung and chenle ended up being in _very_ close proximity as they started crawling.

 

_this is fine, i’m chill, this is cool._

 

renjun put his hands over his mouth and put on his best white woman voice. “ _gerard, please get the gays out of the playground, this is not a drill--”_ he could barely finish before he was laughing along with jisung and chenle. somewhere further inside of the tunnels they heard giggling as well, and renjun was in triumph as he scurried inside the tunnels to follow the noise. “got ‘em!”

 

jisung and chenle followed at a slower pace, but were interrupted when renjun stopped in front of them, having found the other three in a tunnel to the left. “what are-- are you guys smoking in there?”

 

“it’s just weed, chill!” donghyuck’s voice rang out. renjun looked back at chenle and jisung and then back at donghyuck and jeno (who were still out of sight for the youngest two in the group).

 

“well, fuckin’ pass me some,” renjun said, before sliding in as well. jisung and chenle moved forward and could finally see what was happening; donghyuck and jeno passing a joint back and for while renjun was trying to grab it and hit it himself, jaemin giggling off to the side. jisung couldn’t help but laugh, but when he felt chenle tense up next to him, he quieted down.

 

he lowered his voice before speaking. “are you okay with them smoking and stuff? around you?” jisung definitely should’ve thought of this beforehand. he felt an intense amount of relief when chenle nodded and smiled.

 

“i used to have a lot of stoner friends, so it’s cool,” he chuckled softly. jisung nodded but then furrowed his brows. why was chenle so tense, then? just when he was about to ask, chenle spoke up again. “i was just wondering about the whole thing where renjun said… uh-” “that we’re gay?” donghyuck interrupted chenle with a deadpan look on his face. chenle just nodded.

 

“we are. what about it? is that a problem?” donghyuck asked. the others were looking back and forth between the two, trying to judge if a fight was about to break out, while jisung hoped chenle wasn’t gonna chicken out, or even worse; be an actual homophobe.

 

chenle shook his head, cheeks growing red. “n-no, not at all. i was just wondering because…” donghyuck narrowed his eyes as chenle trailed off. “i’m- i like boys, too. so…”

 

donghyuck relaxed his posture and smiled. “oh, okay. don’t worry about that, then.”

 

chenle nodded and smiled as they all tried to ignore the tense silence.

 

trying to diffuse the underlying tension, jeno started getting up. “okay, let’s go guys- _OW!_ ” he promptly fell down on the ground after hitting his head on the top of the tube they were in. the yell that broke the tense silence sent them all into a laughing spree, and then hearing chenle’s screeching laugh for the first time sent them all into a bigger one.

 

jisung smiled and opened the snapchat app. he turned on the flash and quickly snapped a picture of all of them laughing on the ground. after saving the picture to his memories, he captioned it 'i hate my friends' and sent it to his streaks, after a moment of hesitation also adding chenle to the list. as he looked at chenle in the picture and then back up at the real chenle, his cheeks red as he giggled helplessly, only one thought crossed jisung’s mind.

  
_i’m in_ **_way_ ** _too deep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh pls leave a comment if u enjoyed?? i need validation teehee
> 
> im still working on characterization and stuff but i hope this was ok dsjkhdsk
> 
> i would like to mention that i am looking for a beta?? i grew up speaking english at home but my first lanuage is dutch and i still have trouble writing abt details and sentence structure..... so if anyone is interested pls comment below and i'll hit u up on discord or smth else if its more comfortable !!!! :))


	2. my friends aren't far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “you have a crush on chenle.”
> 
>  
> 
> “w-what, no! b-be quiet, he could still hear you!” jisung spluttered, looking out the car window and away from jaemin’s grinning face to see if chenle was still in hearing distance. jaemin just cackled.
> 
>  
> 
> “so you do have a crush on him! oh, my god, this is gold!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey yall i was planning to update this fic once a week but i was bombarded by tests!!! hope u enjoy :))
> 
> title: bellyache - billie eilish
> 
> tw: rape mention! not affecting anyone in the story, just someone singing an r. kelly song and getting woke
> 
> contact names in jisungs phone:
> 
> ramen - mark  
> thats nono - jeno  
> jaemjaem - jaemin  
> dingdong - donghyuck  
> devil's spawn - renjun  
> yeti - yeji
> 
> the rest is p straightforward :)

jisung flopped onto his bed, sighing. he stared at the ceiling, remembering the events of that night. after the group had gotten out of mcdonald’s ( _nearly three hours after they got in_ ) everyone except for chenle and jisung had gotten a ride home from jaemin, all of them driving off with the windows down and singing to some sza song. _s.z.a? sizza?_ jisung shook his head, dismissing his inner dilemma.

 

the walk home with chenle had been quiet, but pleasant nonetheless. chenle’s house conveniently turned out to be in the same neighborhood as jisung’s. he didn’t know if he should feel happy or go into gay panic when he found out. their conversation had ended with them giving each other their numbers, for convenience, of course, and now, jisung was laying on his bed, daydreaming about a boy. damn.

 

jisung snapped out of his daydream when he realized his phone was vibrating violently, grabbing it before it started getting annoying. after turning it on, he rolled his eyes at all of the notifications he got in the span of two hours.

 

 _(785) new messages in dick cyst_ _  
__(5) new messages in dream team og_  
(2) new messages from chenle

 

sighing, he unlocked his phone and read all of it.

 

_**dream team og** _

_5:12pm_

 

**ramen**

jisung who is chenle and why is he on ur ‘dream team’ snap story

 

_6:30pm_

 

**ramen**

JISUNG WHO IS CHENLE AND WHY IS HE ON UR DREAM TEAM SNAP STORY

**ramen**

jeno i see u reading this answer me

**thats nono**

lol sorry hes a kid we hungout w today!! hes cool

**lucas**

omg a new initiation

**lucas**

idk if thats the right way to use that word lol

 

_**chenle** _

_6:38pm_

 

Hey jisung! This is just so you know my number lol.

Thanks for walking me home :) Your friends are really funny hahaha

 

_6:59pm_

 

yeah no problem

i hope your parents didnt mind you coming home late

No dont worry theyre on a business trip

Oh nooo i was gonna ask my cousin for a drive tomorrow but he has to use the car tomorrow (crying emoji)(crying emoji)

oh oof

i usually get a ride from jaemin

Wow lucky!

Hes a good friend for that

you could come along if you want

you dont have to tho

Really??

yeah ahah

Wow thanks!! Wont he mind?

nah dont worry

Pls ask him just in case haha

lol will do

 

**jaemjaem**

_7:10pm_

 

hey

do u mind if chenle rides w us tmrw morning

nah ofc not boo

hes the sweetest person ive ever met :’)

u should learn from him

shut up whore

THE

stOp hanging out with renjun pls hes a bad influence

whatever

im giving chenle ur number bye

 

_**chenle** _

_7:15pm_

 

jaemin doesnt mind haha

_[Contact Shared: jaemjaem]_

Yay!!

Is that jaemin?

yup

Alright!! :)

 

_**dick cyst** _

scroll up for unread messages 

_7:17pm_

**kyla!!**

Anyway they brought up cysts in class today and I nearly bust a lung thinking abt this gc

**dingdong**

ugh soju’s mind is so powerful

**jaemjaem**

um excuse me hyuck i was the one who started the ‘dick cyst’ thing

**dingdong**

okay but w/o soju’s iconic taint cyst we wouldn’t have that in the first place

**dingdong**

so ur statement is inherently incorrect

**jaemjaem**

square up

**dingdong**

oh worm?

**thats nono**

jaemin you dumbfuck why did you theaten the most powerful one out of all of us

**devil’s spawn**

hey

**thats nono**

nvm

**devil’s spawn**

can yall be quiet im tryna do my damn homework like a good student over here

**dingdong**

iM tRyNa Do My HoMeWoRk lIkE a GoOd StUdEnT oVeR hErE

**devil’s spawn**

and what about it

**sanha :)**

(eyes emoji)

**dingdong**

nothing

**devil’s spawn**

thats what i thought

**dingdong**

nerd

**devil’s spawn**

do you want to fucking fight fr

can u guys pls stop spamming the chat

**devil’s spawn**

see jisung’s the only one who understands me

**yeti**

u were spamming just as much as the rest

**devil’s spawn**

this is homophobia

**yeti**

?????

**thats nono**

tbh i muted this chat months ago

**dingdong**

jeno is living in the year 2099

**yeti**

who is chen_le_zh and why did he just follow me on ig

hey can chenle join this gc

**jaemjaem**

YESSS MY BABY BOY

**thats nono**

i love he pls put him in

**dingdong**

chenle has earned my trust

**kyla!!**

Sorry but who is that

**sanha :)**

he went to mcdonalds with the others

**kyla!!**

Ohh

**yeti**

wtf it took me two months of talking before i joined this gc

**dingdong**

thats cause i didnt like you

**yeti**

THE

**lia**

leave her alone rat

**devil’s spawn**

ANYWAY

**devil’s spawn**

put him in

 

_You have added chenle to the chat!_

 

**dingdong**

thats what she said

**chenle**

Um

**sanha :)**

OOF SJDHKHSJKD

**dingdong**

[REST.]

**chenle**

I don’t think i want to know the context for that

**thats nono**

you would be right abt that

**chenle**

What is this?? There’s a bunch of unsaved numbers here

**dingdong**

this is the crackhead friend group you hung out with today lmao

**chenle**

Oh hi!! :)

**sanha :)**

hiiii

 

jisung smiled as he closed the messenger app, but it turned into a smile when he got ‘The Start of Something New’ in his head. thanks a lot, donghyuck.

 

* * *

 

jisung jerked away as the cursed 'radar' ringtone sounded through his room. squinting through the light of his cellphone screen, he hit the 'stop' button and rubbed his eyes. his brows furrowed as he read through his notifications. donghyuck is sick so we're skipping and hanging out at his . u in? from jeno. he quickly replied with a yeah before putting away his phone and groggily starting to get ready for school.

 

"aren't you eating?" his mom's voice rung out when he got downstairs, now showered and dressed. trying not to let his irritation show, he took on a neutral tone.

 

“no, mom. i always get food with jaemin before school. you know that. i have to go,” he said.

 

“jisung, come on, we have to talk ab—” the door was closed before she could finish, and jisung tried not to feel guilty. he was relieved when he saw jaemin’s car already standing outside, window rolled down, and jaemin hanging out one of the windows in his bright outfit.

 

“hello, baby boy!”

 

jisung rolled his eyes as he sat in the front seat of the elder’s car. “hello to you too, jae.”

 

jaemin just grinned even more. “guess who i brought with me?” he paused for suspense before gesturing his hands towards the back of his car. “chenle! our favorite baby gay!”

 

looking in the backseat, jisung indeed found a chuckling, red cheeked chenle there. “agh, jaemin…” he said, embarrassed. jisung smiled at the blushing boy, and the shorter of the two waved when he noticed. jisung tried to slow down his heart rate before it became obvious.

 

“so… are you going to donghyuck’s later?” jisung asked both of the others, changing the subject as the car started moving.

 

jaemin shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “i mean, yeah, later, but i’m not skipping,” he murmured, before catching chenle’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “wait, were you planning on going? because i can’t give you a ride home then.”

 

chenle nodded reassuringly. “jeno asked me as well. i’m going after school as well, since skipping class is probably not the best thing to do in the first week that i’m here. so, donghyuck is sick, huh?”

 

* * *

 

 donghyuck was not sick. that was clear with the way he was dancing along to sharpay’s Bop to the Top choreography playing on TV. jisung was watching him and lying down on the older boy’s bed along with yeji, jeno, and renjun, sanha and lia chilling on the bean bags in the corner. donghyuck was kind of rich. but, in jisung’s eyes, anyone who had a tv in their bedroom was rich.

 

jisung’s phone pinged. a text from jaemin.

 

_omw!! chenles coming too lmao_

 

“jaemin and chenle are on their way,” jisung said, earning mildly enthusiastic hums from the others.

 

“i can’t wait to meet him, i need more nice people in my life,” sanha said jokingly. lia hit him on the shoulder.

 

“we’re plenty nice!”

 

“last week renjun broke donghyuck’s clout glasses because he said renjun looked like a smurf.”

 

“he looked like a smurf then and he still does now— _OW!_ ” donghyuck yelped when renjun threw the youngers (gucci) flip flop at him from the bed and angrily turned towards him. “it’s not my fault you were born that way you _bitch._ ”

 

the doorbell rang before any further fight could break out. donghyuck rolled his eyes. “i’ll get it,” he said, before walking out and closing the door behind him. jeno was still giggling about the smurf thing.

 

jisung sighed, thoughts drifting away again, before his gaze landed on chenle and jaemin, who had just walked in.

 

“hey, guys!” jaemin smiled while donghyuck sat on the bed with the rest of them, leaving chenle and the grinning boy standing. chenle looked kind of awkward. everyone collectively chose to ignore it and say hi back.

 

“i swear to god,” jaemin said, putting his arm around chenle’s shoulder. “this kid is the _cutest_ person i have ever met. the ultimate baby boy.”

 

chenle’s cheeks were growing redder and redder. jisung could hear a few ‘aw’s from his friends, and didn’t know if they were being sarcastic or genuinely smitten. jisung knew that he sure was.

 

jeno smiled at the smaller boy, who was still getting squeezed by jaemin. “hope jaemin didn’t hit too many poles on the way,” he chuckled, ignoring jaemin’s indignant yell. chenle decided to play along.

  
“luckily he only hit two. or came close to hitting two, anyway,” he smiled mischievously. jaemin made and offended noise and released chenle from his arms, pushing him away dramatically and wiping a fake tear.

 

“ _i trusted you!”_ he wailed, doing a questionable taemin impression, even going as far as dramatically punching the wall. luckily, chenle caught the reference and laughed along with all of the others, now laying on the bed with them.

 

(jeno had definitely kicked donghyuck off to make all of them fit, the shorter of the two huffing before grabbing another bean bag and begrudgingly sitting on it.)

 

when jisung caught chenle’s eye and leaned towards him conspiratorially. “turns out the whole ‘gays can’t drive’ thing is true after all, huh?” chenle chuckled and nodded in agreement while jaemin just looked triumphant.

 

“if anything, that gives me a valid excuse for my driving abilities! i’m _crippled_.”

 

“your gayness isn’t the thing making you crippled, jaemin. how’s your back again?”

 

donghyuck promptly received a tv remote in the face for that one.

 

“our friend group is literally the king of stereotyping,” yeji said, lia nodding in agreement. “asian’s that band together? check. gays that can’t drive? check.”

 

“don’t forget gays that can’t sit on chairs,” renjun said before pointing at sanha, donghyuck and lia. “look at the bean bag bitches over there.”

 

said bean bag bitches were both definitely not sitting on them correctly, with donghyuck sprawled over it, arms spread out before him, torso resting on the bag and legs laying on the ground behind him. sanha was lying completely next to the bean bag except for his legs, and lia had somehow gotten underneath it.

 

“huh.”

 

“at least i can drive, jaemin.”

 

“can you, though? _can you_?”

 

“hey,” jeno said, ignoring lia and jaemin. “do you know how to drive?” chenle looked up surprisedly  and pointed at himself. jeno chuckled. “yes, you, chenle.”

 

“i can’t drive,” chenle said, adjusting his denim jacket. it’s embroidered with a bunch of little flowers. _cute_ , jisung can’t help but think. anyways. “i’ve just been moving around so much that i just never took the time to learn it,” he paused, frowning. “wow, i’m sixteen and can’t drive. that’s a little sad.”

 

donghyuck shook his head. “jisung is sixteen too, and he can’t drive.”

 

jisung felt very attacked. “hey, i _just_ turned sixteen!”

 

chenle looked surprised. “wait, when’s your birthday?” his eyebrows raised when jisung told him the date. “but we’re in the same class?”

 

“i skipped a grade,” jisung said, trying to stop his cheeks from burning. he always felt like he was bragging when he told people. chenle just smiled and nodded in understanding.

 

“anyways,” renjun started. “half of us can’t drive. and no, yeji,” he said, interrupting the rant that yeji was about to give. “a driver’s license doesn’t count.”

 

half of the group protested at that and chenle just looked confused. jisung was a bit confused too, honestly. renjun rolled his eyes. “listen. there are three categories of gay: can’t drive, think they can drive but can’t drive, and the rare gays who can drive.

 

“half of us fall into the second category, and i’m pretty sure jeno and i are the only ones here who can drive,” renjun said, before noticing that sanha was pouting. “sorry, sanha. jeno, sanha, and i can drive. i’m pretty sure donghyuck doesn’t even have a drivers license, and—” “he doesn’t have a what?!”

 

jisung could see donghyuck’s cheeks bleed red under his foundation after jaemin’s interruption. huh. “you don’t have a driver’s license?”

 

the entire room was quiet as they waited to hear donghyuck’s answer. the latter squared his jaw and crossed his arms. “...listen, i was _planning_ to get—”

 

“oh, my god, you don’t have a driver’s license!”

 

“shut up, let me finish!”

 

“i can’t believe you actually can't drive.”

 

“you’re seventeen!”

 

“shut _up_ _!_ ”

 

donghyuck pouted as his friends all started laughing and shouting. jisung chuckled and then laughed harder when chenle’s dolphin screech made an appearance once again.

 

“ _okay, okAY, OKAY, OKAY!_ ” donghyuck shouted, standing up and throwing his arms around. “first off, who was the one pterodactyl screeching? second off, i don’t really need to drive and i kind of… forgot? to get a driver’s license? i was just busy, i guess…” he said, the others nodding in understanding.

 

“okay, renjun and i are gonna teach jisung and chenle how to drive. donghyuck’s in the equation too now, i guess,” jeno said, ignoring donghyuck’s high-pitched impression of him when he shaded the makeup wearing boy. “y’all in?”

 

“whatever,” donghyuck said, still pouting. when jeno sent him a certain look, he just nodded, resigned.

 

jisung looked at chenle, quirking an eyebrow. “what do you think?”

 

chenle smiled (or was it a smirk? was chenle smirking? oh, my god) and nodded. “let’s do it!”

 

cute.

 

* * *

 

“you have a crush on chenle.”

 

“w-what, no! b-be quiet, he could still hear you!” jisung spluttered, looking out the car window and away from jaemin’s grinning face to see if chenle was still in hearing distance. jaemin just cackled.

 

“so you _do_ have a crush on him! oh, my god, this is gold!”

 

“please just turn the ignition.”

 

jaemin was momentarily distracted by his turn of phrase. “ _it’s the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen,”_ he sang, wiggling his head and cruising down the streets. “oh, oof. wasn’t r. kelly cancelled and, like, a rapist or something? probably shouldn’t be singing that then…” jaemin woke-ly grimaced before turning to jisung and wiggling his eyebrows ( _“watch the road, jae!”_ ). “anyways. chenle, huh?”

 

jisung groaned. jaemin had just dropped chenle of at his house and was on his way to jisung’s now. just when he thought he could ignore his crush for a bit, jaemin had to bring it up. “how did you even know i liked him? am i being obvious?”

 

“chillax, jiji,” jaemin said, ignoring jisung’s protests towards the nickname. “it’s just my gay instinct. my gaydar. y’know, y’all always say that donghyuck is the gay guru of the group, but i am severely underrated! maybe it’s cause we’re both bi. that must be it! my bi-fi is working, jisung. my bi-fi,” jaemin said seriously, only breaking eyecontact when he heard a loud honk. “jeez! i was barely near him!”

 

jisung just gave jaemin a dry look. “you almost scraped his car, cher horowitz. you truly are the disaster gay people say you are.”

 

jaemin, still looking at the road (thank god) made an offended noise. “says you! how’s _chenle_ , by the way?”

 

“oh, shut up.”

 

jisung’s eyeroll was interrupted when his phone pinged. he picked it up to see a message from chenle. _Luckily our driving lessons arent gonna be from jaemin lol… Itll be fun when we do it together!_

 

before he could stop it, heat bloomed across his cheeks. jaemin didn’t miss this fact either.

 

“oh-woah? what’s this? who texted little jiji to make him blush like that? chenle? i'm right, aren't i? it’s chenle, isn’t it?” jaemin said in an overly curious tone, wiggling his eyebrows once again. jisung not answering was enough to make the elder cackle maniacally. “ha! _whipped_.”

 

jisung rolled his eyes, putting his phone in his back pocket. jaemin stopped laughing and smiled sympathetically. “hey, don’t be so sad! maybe this will pass. hey, maybe chenle will move away and we’ll forget him altogether.”

 

“let’s hope so…” jisung muttered. “i can’t take feeling all of these gay feelings.”  


  
_"gay feelings,_ ha! jiji, you’re the best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'oh-woah? what’s this?' is 'owo whats this' out loud JDHSJKHS jaemin is rly that bitch
> 
>  
> 
> im still looking for a beta!!! so!!!!!! ahem!!!!!!! hdsjhdsk my discord is opalanceee you earn everythinggg#0219 but i will not hesitate to block if ure creepy ......... anyway i just need someone to make sure that what im writing Makes Sense and mayhaps motivate me. mayhaps.
> 
>  
> 
> anyway, give a kudo if u enjoyed and pls leave a comment bc i need validation!!!! :)))) thanks for reading!!


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